British man pleads guilty in US to $30m cocaine smuggling plot

A British man is facing at least 10 years in an American prison after confessing that he attempted to smuggle cocaine worth $30 million (£18.5 million) into Europe from the Caribbean.

Rawson WatsonPhoto: ENTERPRISE NEWS AND PICTURES

By Jon Swaine in New York

9:42AM BST 01 Oct 2013

Rawson Watson, who was once jailed for trying to steal $1.5 million in foreign currency by hiding in a wooden box in the hold of a plane, pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute a tonne of the drug.

Watson, 48, of Kent, was caught in the Dominican Republic boarding a plane loaded with 1,000 kilograms of cocaine and bound for Belgium in December 2011. He was arrested with an alleged Dutch accomplice.

The drug was discovered by local police in some 1,001 packages spread among 20 suitcases packed on to the plane, according to Dominican reports following the arrests of Watson and Nicolas Epskamp.

Nayef Fawaz, a third alleged member of the smuggling ring who is said to have chartered the plane for transporting the cocaine, was arrested separately in Panama in June last year and has also been charged.

Preet Bharara, the US attorney for Manhattan, hailed the guilty plea as a victory in American authorities' efforts to crack down on major drug smugglers linked to the US.

"Today's guilty plea ensures that Rawson Edward Watson will be punished for his role in attempting to further the international drug trade using US aircraft," said Mr Bharara.

Watson was in 2003 found guilty at the Old Bailey in London of stowing on board the hold of a plane inside a wooden box, in an attempt to steal £1.5 million worth of Spanish pesetas.

The court heard that Watson's "cunning and daring plan" was foiled in January 2000 when baggage handlers, surprised by the weight of the box in which he was hiding, dropped it, causing him to tumble on to the tarmac.

Telling the handlers "don't worry about me, I will be all right," Watson fled the scene and escaped Heathrow airport, going on the run for almost three years before being arrested.

He was found only after having a sample of his DNA taken when he was stopped by the police for drink driving. It proved to be a match for blood found on the British Airways Boeing 767.

"All went well until that fateful extra pint," Graham Trembath QC, his barrister, told the court. Watson was convicted of attempted theft and sentenced to more than three years in prison.

Watson is due to be sentenced in Manhattan federal court on January 31. He faces between 10 years and life in prison and a fine of between $20,000 (£12,350) and $10,000,000 (£6,180,000).

Special Agent Robert Koval, of the Drug Enforcement Agency, said Watson and his accomplices had used "crafty methods" in an attempt to disguise their identities from US authorities.

"This drug cell thought they could fly under the radar untouched by any law enforcement officials," said Agent Koval. "The true identity of their alleged criminal enterprise was grounded by outstanding cooperative police work."